Stark Consequences
by darthbane1988
Summary: The Clone Wars are over and the Jedi are all but extinct, but Boba Fett learns on a job that a company called Stark Industries has still been manufacturing lightsabers on Earth. His investigation brings him face to face with Iron Man.


_**Stark Consequences**_

 **1**

 _Coruscant_

Boba Fett stepped out of the light and into the darkness of Coruscant. His Mandalorian helmet masked any emotions that might have been present. Scaling the small, nondescript apartment complex in the heart of downtown without triggering any alarms had been child's play. Though the building had just been erected just a few years ago to house some of Coruscant's most "legitimate" gangsters, their security systems were woefully inadequate for someone of Fett's talents. After renting a speeder to fly directly on top of the buidling, Fett easily incapacitated the lone guard standing watch with a nerve dart launched from his kneepad as he dropped down onto the roof. The arrogance of posting just one guard on the roof told Fett all he needed to know about his target. This would barely be any fun. But Boba Fett was not there to have fun. He had not had fun in a long time.

Fett had been tracking his target for a week now, and the motion and sound sensors in his helmet had helped him ascertain the schedule of the target's bodyguards. Fett knew he had a window of seven minutes before the next guard took her shift – a paid lackey who fancied herself a bounty hunter. The helmet he had worn for over a decade hid Fett's look of disgust at the gall some people had, calling themselves bounty hunters when the more suitable term was lowly mercenary. Fett would kill her if it came to that, but he'd try to avoid it. No need to draw attention to himself and make a job more complicated than necessary. That was something his rivals did not understand – you should keep jobs as simple as possible and favor discretion over making a mess. That was why Boba Fett was the best.

The repulsor lift that carried people to different floors within the twenty story apartment complex had restricted access for the penthouse. Even if someone heard any noise and suspected foul play, Boba Fett would be long gone before anyone could access this floor with the proper key codes. Still, Fett was not going to take any more time than he needed. He hated the Core Worlds – he was going to finish this job, use the money to repair Slave I's hyperdrive, and return to a more secluded planet away from the Empire's reach. Perhaps Nar Shadaa – the Hutts paid well and never asked questions. Doing jobs for Imperials had become so bureaucratic; they always wanted to know too much.

Boba Fett almost had not accepted this job, but he had been too desperate after the failure of his last job. Never again would he partner with another bounty hunter. He did not particularly enjoy killing, but Fett had to admit that he had taken a special pride in burning his "partner" to death for trying to steal Slave I. Vultures, Fett thought. No honor among thieves. This "partner" had tried to re-negotiate for more money after finishing the last job and even succeeded in stealing Slave I. So Fett had summoned the ship back using his internal comms system and then taught him a lesson. But not before that idiot was able to damage the hyperdrive. Boba Fett would not let his guard down again.

Pulling an anti-security blade from his shin guard, Boba Fett forced the roof door that allowed him access to the stairwell that lead to the penthouse. The nice thing about this special blade was that it emitted an intense harmonic wave that jammed comlinks and erased magnetic locks. Clearly, the target had never felt truly threatened before. Boba Fett was becoming bored with how easy this was. Scaling the roof steps downwards to the penthouse's external exit while monitoring all sound and movement inside the penthouse with his helmet, Fett knew that there no guards inside as he let himself in.

As Boba Fett entered a small, bare antechamber, he saw a black marble slab that had to be a door. Sliding it gently, he slid through and entered a large circular room that included an ornate kitchen and living area complete with fireplace, and transparent sliding doors across from the kitchen that lead to a balcony overlooking Oa Park. Fett had gotten excited when he learned the apartment complex overlooked Oa Park – the place had been constructed to house animals and plants from across the galaxies in their natural habitats. Different sections of the park had different gravitational fields and temperatures to accommodate all types of flora and fauna. Fett would bury his target there – it was close by and no one would discover the target for several days at least, perhaps when an animal dug him up one day. Boba Fett admired the beautiful simplicity of the room – no doubt his target had cooked up meals by a fireplace for his amours in the past.

Fett had studied the target extensively and knew he was quite the playboy when he was not ordering hits against cortosis smugglers and even the rare politician who dared to cross him. Cortosis is not usually found this close to the Core Worlds; the target must have quite some influence to be able to have secured a monopoly on shipping it within the Imperial Capitol. And while the target was certainly cocky to have had only one guard on the roof, he must also be dangerous for cortosis is quite the mineral. Resistant to even a direct hit from a lightsaber, it is one of the strongest materials in the universe. Boba Fett had never actually been inside the apartment – he was taking too much time and there were now only two minutes before that mercenary's shift began – but the time was necessary as he studied his surroundings one last time before making his way past the fireplace and placed his body against the square bedroom door where his target now slept.

Opening the bedroom door after a certain hour must signal a trip wire that Boba Fett had not anticipated. A silent alarm awakened the target immediately and Fett barely glimpsed the lekku wound around the Twi'lek's head before he pushed a button next to him to retract the entire bed into a secret chamber.

"Fuck," Boba Fett muttered under his breath.

A C-B3 Cortosis battle droid springs to life and joined the human female mercenary who was sitting on a chair overlooking the sole window in the now bare room. The mercenary must have been waiting for him – a coincidence or was it something more? The removal of the bed, the only furniture that had been present, gave the droid and mercenary ample room to operate – but it also meant Boba Fett had room to maneuver now as well. There are no threats, Fett reminded himself, only opportunities.

Boba Fett makes a note that he should have figured the target would have saved outdated battle droids from the Clone Wars given how much he valued cortosis. The mercenary fired a poison dart at Boba that made contact with his knees, but the environmental filter system in his helmet quickly negated the effects of the toxin. Fett threw his jetpack across the room at the mercenary and she rolled sideways to a corner of the room to avoid it. Placing himself between her and one of the droids in a kind of staggered row, Fett devised a plan to dispatch both of his attackers in one fell swoop. The droid began to fire its blaster and the mercenary thought this battle would be mercifully short, but at the last moment Fett used the battle computer in his helmet to direct the jetpack to fly into one of the battle droids and knock it off balance. The battle droid's blaster shot skimmed past Fett's arm and hit the mercenary square in the stomach instead, killing her instantly.

"Amateur," Fett muttered under his breath.

Rolling across the floor to strap his jetpack back on, Fett turned it on while laying low to the ground to charge straight at the droid's legs so it fell onto Fett's back as he broke through the window of the room and launched himself into the darkness outside. Fett then turned over so the droid fell down the building and launched his fibercord whip to the side of the window to pull himself back up. Back in the room – alone now – Boba Fett was done playing games.

Pacing between the broken window and the door he entered, Boba Fett turned on his macro binocular viewplate and enabled its infrared scanning. He knew the Twi'lek was still in the room, he just had to find a way to open the secret passage. He could always just use a thermal detonator – Fett could tell that the wall his target hid against was not thick – but it might still kill him and that meant a significant cut in the reward. Fett's employer wanted some questions answered before the Twi'lek was disposed of. Using his scanner to find a faint heat pattern near the side of where the bed once was, Boba Fett activated the flame thrower on his left wrist to completely burn off the panel that must have been installed there as a fail safe. "I'm coming in – move aside and sit quietly if you want this to be as painless as possible," Fett said as he pushed a button that opened a slide door into the secret room.

Never one to use words when actions would do the job, Boba Fett was still at a loss for words upon entering the room that was about a fifth smaller than it should have been to support a man as tall as the target. The Twi'lek male crouched before him from across the room, but in his hand he held a blue ignited lightsaber – it illuminated the otherwise dark room just like the one that had severed his father's head from his shoulders all those years ago.

"Turn that off," Fett threatened after a noticeable moment of hesitation.

"You don't scare me, scum! I bet you didn't expect to run into a Jedi!"

Fett regained his composure.

"You are no Jedi. You wield that weapon like a child and will likely cut your own lekku off before you hurt me."

Sensing a moment's hesitation from the target, Boba Fett moved with purpose and speed to disarm him. Bending over to throw a survival knife from his shin guard straight at the Twi'lek, Fett then fired a stunning agent from his kneepad that caught the target in his hip while he swung his lightsaber to try and cut the knife in half. The result was that the target stumbled off balance and fell on to the bed, but not before the lightsaber tumbled onto the floor and, as Fett had predicted, nicked the Twi'lek's lekku to elicit a scream. A scream that no one heard as Boba Fett closed the door and began his questioning of the target.

Boba Fett sat before his captive and turned the comlink on in his helmet that would record this transmission for his employer to listen to later.

"Your mercenary was waiting for me. How did you know I was coming tonight?" Boba Fett had used the 20 meter long fibercord whip in his wrist to tie the target to the side of his bed. His lekku singed and his face purple after Fett roughed him up a bit, the man became more talkative in ten minutes than Fett had been in ten years.

"I heard that a rival smuggler had put a hit out on me. When I discovered that you were the one he'd hired, I set a trap because I wanted to meet you and test your skills. See if the legends behind the famed bounty hunter were true."

Fett briefly pondered how dumb a target would have to be to want to face him before turning his mind to other matters.

"You have a substantial amount of cortosis hidden on this planet. Where is it?"

The Twi'lek snorted back laughter before Boba Fett cut off one of his fingers and poked him in the eye with it. Then he asked again and received an answer in the form of coordinates.

Having obtained the information he was paid to get, Fett turned the comlink off…but he still had some private questions for his target.

"How did you get this lightsaber?" Fett asked the question while twirling the tool in his hands, "the Empire hunted down all Jedi after the Clone Wars…and I personally killed a few that they missed. At no charge."

The Twi'lek gulped and his eyes grew wide with fear – perhaps he was finally questioning the wisdom in drawing out Boba Fett.

"After the Clone Wars, I heard of another factory. One that builds lightsabers far from the Empire's reach. Far beyond the Outer Rim. A planet called Earth. I found people there who believe lightsabers should be wielded by anyone who has the money to pay."

Fett considered the quandary before him – he could kill the man and pretend he had heard nothing. But no, this was personal now. As long as lightsabers existed in the world, Boba Fett would not have truly avenged his father. It was Fett's responsibility to destroy every last one of these weapons. And if people were mass producing lightsabers for the common man, it was only a matter of time before Fett's rivals got some as well. He could not take that chance – every time he saw a lightsaber, it reminded him of how he could not save his father.

"Who made this lightsaber for you?"

"Stark Industries. A man named Tony Stark."

 **2**

 _Coruscant_

Having no need for the Twi'lek after his questions were answered, Fett disposed of him and uploaded the data his employer sought in an audio transmission after receiving confirmation that his fee had been wired to his off world account. Fett had not been cruel in killing the target. A close range blast to the head from his EE-3 rifle had made it practically painless. Well, Fett imagined it would have been as close to painless as death gets. The Twi'lek hadn't screamed. Just a short groan before Fett fired up his jetpack and dumped the target's body amidst a herd of Asyyyriak in Oa Park. Any creature that was tough enough to kill a Wookie would probably try and eat the body – with any luck, they would destroy all physical evidence that the murder had ever taken place.

Morning was breaking now – the job had taken all night. Fett took a taxi to his local contact at an auto parts shop. He liked the place because it only employed aliens from faraway worlds. The less humans Boba Fett had to interact with, the better. Of course, he would never allow anyone to work on his ship but him. He simply bought the parts he needed and made his way to Osik Ocean, where Slave I was hidden away. It took a full week to repair the hyperdrive and map the hyperspace coordinates for Earth, but soon Boba Fett would find this Tony Stark and discover just how far down the rabbit hole the influence of the Jedi Order went…

 _Earth – Stark Mansion_

Tony Stark was bored. Surrounded by people he didn't care about at a party Pepper insisted he had to throw, he missed Thor. He even missed Cap. As much as he complained about them, he really did like his friends. And Pepper wasn't even here to keep him company – she was off in China completing a new acquisition for Stark Industries.

Finishing his aperitif in his kitchen, he moved to join the group of poor substitutes for friends that were currently spread out over his living room. Some charity for cancer – Tony didn't remember which kind of cancer. Some might have said that Tony was being insensitive, that his heart was two sizes too small; man, were they close to the truth. It's not that Tony didn't care about the cancer charity – it was a good cause and it made Pepper happy so he'd grin and bear it. The real problem was why all these people were here – they couldn't care less about cancer; they were here to get face time with Iron Man.

"Tony! Hey Tony – over here!"

One of the older white men in this party filled with generic old white men flagged Stark over to join him and his date, a tall, blonde Ukrainian woman he probably bought for the night. Tony sighed and joined the group – Pepper had told him he had to at least have a short private conversation with each of the guests who'd paid anywhere from five to fifteen thousand dollars to attend tonight's event.

"Hey there, Rooster!"

Tony shot him a cocky grin and a finger gun as he joined the semi circle the two had formed.

"It's Kent, actually," the older white man said. He was now looking a bit more flushed and colored.

"Sure, of course I knew your name," Stark lied. "I give my friends silly nick names. You wouldn't believe it, I call this one dude Hawkeye."

Stark chuckled to himself.

"Charming, I'm sure," the older white man did not look charmed. His blond friend, however, did smile at Stark.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, Tony, I'm a little troubled with this talk I hear about the Senate blocking trade agreements with Asia. You know it's the future! Isn't your girlfriend over there right now trying to close a deal?"

"The **CEO** of Stark Industries is in China now," Stark emphasized the word CEO. He hated that pretentious assholes like this guy thought Pepper only got the job because she was with him.

"My apologies," the man stumbled over his words and liquor. Smelling what had to be his third bourbon on his breath, Stark could a step back to try and make it clear that the conversation was over.

"If you could just mention something to Senator Boynton next time you speak to him," the man started to mutter.

"I'll tell you what," Stark said, looking the man straight in the eyes and raising his voice so the rest of the room could hear him. "You leave my party right now, and I might not tell Senator Boynton about your tall blonde friend who I doubt has a visa."

Pulling his buxom friend along, the man stormed out and Stark turned to face the crowd.

"Good evening, everyone!"

Stark continued to talk while he strolled around shaking hands – he could get away with being rude to a guest who'd insulted Pepper, but he had to at least try to make nice with the others.

"Thank you all for being here, Pepper and I are so humbled that you'd spend your time and money on such an important cause. Please make yourselves comfortable and, as is usually the case with my parties, don't touch anything and be sure to leave after a couple hours. But don't feel like you need to stay a couple hours either. You can all leave now if you want."

The crowd laughed and clinked their glasses of champagne. They always found that line funny for some reason.

After his talk, the night lingered on and Tony Stark even managed to smile a couple times throughout the night. In the history of their relationship, this wasn't the worst group of people Pepper had insisted he spend time with. Stark even agreed to let one of Pepper's more generous donors drive his Bugatti around at the Monaco race track on a later date (Tony chuckled to himself as he wondered if the man actually thought that would ever happen). After spending what he deemed to be enough time with the boring big shots, Stark sent each of them home with a bottle of Four Roses and a promise that they'd all do it again sometime (praying that Pepper would be home for that next occasion).

 _Earth – above California_

Boba Fett prepared to enter Earth's atmosphere, turning on Slave I's cloaking system. As Slave I descended upon a location Fett had learned was known as El-Ay, he familiarized himself with Earth's atmosphere. Parts of it were almost as blue as his home planet of Kamino – Fett was not the nostalgic sort but he did feel comforted by his surroundings here. Additionally, it did not look like this planet had developed much in terms of interplanetary defenses. Perhaps it is for the best, Fett thought. This planet has such potential that could be exploited.

Boba Fett had already hacked into the local government's property records. Their security made that Coruscant high rise look quite secure. It had taken a full month to leave the Outer Rim and find a point of entry into the Milky Way galaxy, but Fett had put that time to good use. Occasionally, he had even indulged with the black ale he kept in reserve on the ship. Native only to Mandalore, the ale was a little keepsake of his adopted culture. Knowing exactly where Tony Stark lived, Fett prepared to land Slave I near the rocks underneath Stark mansion.

 _Earth – Stark Mansion_

"Let's cut the lights, J.A.R.V.I.S."

Tony Stark's high rise went dark as the main room's lights turned off. Admiring the stars through the window of his futuristic looking abode, Stark made his way to the bedroom to video chat with Pepper. It would be just about the afternoon there now, and Stark liked to always end his nights with her. Turning away from his window, he could not see the man scaling the mountaintop on which his condo laid.

Boba Fett had had to improvise with Slave I. A twenty-one meter wingspan was not anything you could hide, so instead he put it down right above the water and turned the ion engines to their absolute lowest settings. He only had enough fuel to keep it hovering above the water for a couple of hours. If worst came to worst and it sank into the ocean…well, Fett had dealt with a similar problem before. Popping the hatch open, Fett decided not to scale the mountain with his jetpack. He had observed that Stark had had a party earlier and even if everyone else was gone, Stark might still be awake and Fett did not want to alert him to his presence before it was absolutely necessary. That meant scaling the mountain with his spiked boots and bare hands. Luckily, at 5'9 and 170 pounds, he enjoyed his exercise and methodically began to pull himself up.

"Pepper, you liking the Chinese food?"

"Food's good, Tony. Did you play nice tonight?"

"I did, you'd have been proud of me. I didn't kick anyone out who wasn't asking for it."

"So who asked for it?"

"Some idiot with a blonde bimbo on his shoulders. But the rest of the night went well. We raised a lot of money and I think those people like me so much now they might even name a building after me."

Pepper snorted.

"Probably not, Tony."

"Yeah, maybe not. But hey, that's ok. I'll buy a building and name if after me."

The lights were on in Tony Stark's room. He had forgotten to close the door that lead to the living room area and now sat on his bed talking to Pepper. She smiled.

"I've got to go. I love you."

"I know."

Tony smiled as he shut down his computer.

"Lights off, .V.I.S."

Tony had turned in for the night.

Fifteen minutes after he began, Fett had slowly made his way to just outside Tony Stark's living area. After scaling the cliff to reach the pool that sat just outside his house, Fett decided it would be most practical to find a way on top of one of the circular plates that served as a roof for this monstrosity of a mansion. The gaudiness reminded Boba Fett of Coruscant's elites. He hated those people. Walking on the roof, his motion and sound scanners told him that he was exactly on top of Stark's room. Using his flamethrower to burn a hole through the plaster above Stark's bed, Fett then pulled out his survival knife to make a hole just wide enough to drop through and land on top of him.

Tony Stark knew there was trouble before he opened his eyes. J.A.R.V.I.S. had alerted him that there had been a breach and, by the time he opened his eyes to see the strange masked man dropping on to his bed, he had already begun to activate his suit. Stark's suit began to cover his body just as Fett dropped down to meet him, launching a nerve dart from his right kneepad that made contact with Stark's lower abdomen and bounced off. Tony Stark rolled off his bed before Fett's left knee could make contact with his chest.

"Sorry, I'm not into dudes."

Stark ran outside to the living area where there was more room to navigate, and Boba Fett followed.

 **3**

By the time Boba Fett had entered the spacious living room, Tony Stark had become Iron Man and was standing across from him on the first floor near the window. Rather than taking the stairs down, Fett launched himself into a jump and landed on the kitchen counter.

"I've got some questions for you, Fett."

"I've got some questions for you too…crazy helmet dude," Stark said, trying to appear calmer than he was. "Mainly questions about your wardrobe. I usually discourage people from wearing capes unless they happen to be Superman. Or is he finally accepting my invitation to join the Avengers?"

Fett fired his fibercord whip across the room where it made contact with Iron Man's right leg and tried to pull him in, but Iron Man activated the energy repulsors on his feet – knocking Fett off balance before spinning around and throwing Fett through the window like a rag doll. Fett was unfazed thanks to the duraplast blast plates that covered his body, but was quite annoyed now.

"Oh I'm sorry, did you not like that?" Iron Man walked through the now broken window to join Fett near the swimming pool that covered much of his front lawn. "I just thought you might want to go for a swim."

Running straight towards Iron Man, Fett launched himself forward and activated his jetpack as Iron Man began to fly straight up. They made contact in the air as Fett head-butted his opponent, resulting in a loud crack. Fett's duraplast helmet might not have been made out of original Mandalorian Iron, but it was still powerful enough to survive some grenade blasts and the contact with Iron Man's head temporarily disabled J.A.R.V.I.S. and rendered him blind. Fett fell to the ground and rolled behind the mechanical man, using Iron Man's distraction to his advantage.

Reactivating J.A.R.V.I.S. had taken six seconds – time that Boba Fett had used to disappear from Iron Man's line of sight when his systems had been restored. Turning around, Iron Man found Fett throwing his jetpack towards him.

"I don't know if this is your first fight or something, but usually people keep their clothes on." Iron Man proved to be just as sarcastic as Tony Stark. "The whole jetpack and cape thing is a bit lame, but if you're going to use them you should own the look."

As the jetpack hurtled towards Iron Man's body, he prepared to knock it away effortlessly. Before he could, however, Fett launched a Type-12A anti-personnel rocket from his wrist that connected with the jetpack, resulting in a huge explosion that knocked Iron Man to the ground and shut his systems down again. The explosion threw Fett off his feet as well, but it was the kind of daring maneuver that his opponents never expected. Boba Fett kept spare jetpacks in Slave I just for these occasions. Employing maneuvers like that one were just part of the reason why Boba Fett was the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.

Minutes passed before Boba Fett lifted himself up from the wreckage he had caused. The pool was missing parts of itself; water was now overflowing into the ground and tile was everywhere. Perhaps that had been reckless, Fett thought to himself. The durablast armor could only do so much; Fett made a note to upgrade to real Mandalorian Iron with the money he had made from his last job. Walking towards Iron Man's unmoving body, Fett determined to finally get some answers so he could go home. Little did he know, Iron Man was just playing dead.

Systems reactivated, Iron Man commanded J.A.R.V.I.S. to fire a repulsor beam from his right arm that singed Fett's right shoulder and would have lit him on fire if not for the power armor liner he wore around his body. Rolling out of the way to avoid the missile Iron Man launched at him, Fett fired his grapple hook into a rock and ducked behind it while he contemplated his next move.

"Hey asshole! I don't know why you're here, but here in California we like to try talking about our problems before blowing people up. This isn't New York!"

"Do you deny that you make weapons at Stark Industries?"

"Oh, ok. So you're the kind of crazy person that was morally opposed to what I used to do. At least now I know what kind of crazy you are. See, wasn't that easy? No one had to get hurt."

Boba Fett got up and stepped out, facing Iron Man for the first time outside.

"You used to do? You don't make weapons anymore?"

"No. I make peace now. We've got our own team logo and everything. The Avengers? You might have heard of us."

Placing his left hand up as a symbol of peace, Fett used his right hand to retrieve a holo projector from one of the pouches on his utility belt. He turned it on to reveal an image of the lightsaber his last target had wielded, a lightsaber that now rested in Slave I with the rest of those weapons Fett had collected from his victims over the last decade.

"You don't recognize this?"

"Hmm" Iron Man thought as he stepped a few feet towards Fett. "It looks like something my father had been working on right before he died."

The two men stood an arm's length apart from each other now. Fett was apprehensive, but he knew that he could still signal Slave I on his comlink in a pinch and have the ship fire its weapons to reduce this place to rubble and ash if the situation became dire.

"Well?" Fett was growing impatient.

"Yeah, definitely something I saw my father working on. He called it an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. As if weaponry was something that needed to be romanticized."

Iron Man's suit hid the look of disgust on Tony Stark's face from Boba Fett. His father had called it a lightsaber and tried to mass-produce them during the first Gulf War, but the cost went into the billions and it was scientifically impossible for the crystals to not degrade to the point of uselessness within an hour.

"There are not any left?"

Tony Stark stepped out of his suit and stepped forward until his face was pressed next to Boba Fett and their noses touched.

"No. There aren't any left. Stark Industries is out of the weapons of mass destruction business."

Boba Fett smiled beneath his mask. There was no need to kill this man – he had learned everything he wanted and, what's more, it was the type of news Fett liked. He had discovered the truth. He had won.

 **4**

"So are you going to tell me who you are?"

Boba Fett had already launched his grapple down the rocks that would lead him back to his ship. He had almost jumped down when Tony Stark questioned him.

"I'm just a man, like you. From another planet, sure, but still just a man trying to fill his father's shoes."

"My father made weapons for a living, but I know he wanted more for me. I'm sure your father would say the same about you."

"I will never know. I never got to ask him."

"I don't know anything about you, but you won't find peace on your current path. I doubt it's what your father would have wanted."

"Peace was never an option," Fett said.

"The name's Boba Fett. And I'm not from this galaxy. That's all you need to know."

"You wouldn't happen to know any Chitauri, would you?"

Boba Fett said nothing.

"I'm gonna take that as a no."

Fett stepped down to the rocks below and started to make his descent while Stark looked onwards. Coming to the edge to the peak, Stark played his trump card.

"Oh hey man, by the way, you can't just come into someone's house and destroy it on this planet. Anyways, good luck with your ship."

Stark turned around and started to walk away as Fett wondered to himself. How did this man know about his ship? Looking down, he should have been able to see it – what had Stark done?! Enraged, Boba Fett looked up just in time to see Tony Stark cutting his grapple hook and sending Fett plunging to the rocks and ocean below…

 **5**

Earth's oceans might have reminded Boba Fett of Kamino, but the water was quite a bit warmer. Boba Fett's helmet had shorted out while he was submerged in it. Without the helmet and his jetpack to use now, Fett was at a considerable disadvantage when he inevitably faced Tony Stark again. Using his survival knife as a crutch, Fett slowly pulled himself back up.

Tony Stark wasn't happy. Repairing his place wasn't that big of a problem, but the fact that he had a party one night and then the next day his place was in shambles? The media storm wasn't going to be pleasant if this ever got out. Stark sighed to himself and started to return to his bedroom. At least he taught that crazy guy a lesson.

J.A.R.V.I.S. had alerted him as soon as that space ship triggered the motion sensors Stark had set up around the entire perimeter of the ocean. Stark wanted to take a wait and see approach, thinking he could handle this Boba Fett. Well, Stark thought to himself, I did handle him…in my own way. He had wanted to save the ship if at all possible for future study. So while he'd been playing dead right after both of them had been knocked down by the explosion of Fett's jetpack, Stark had signaled J.A.R.V.I.S. to launch some of the anti-aircraft missiles he'd laid out next to the motion sensors. The missiles weren't strong enough to completely destroy the ship, but they were sufficient enough to push it hundreds of feet beneath the Pacific Ocean until it got stuck in the rock formation Stark had carved out to capture any airborne ships. Stark had planned for the event of a sea based attack years ago – although this was actually the first time his sea defenses had been used. At least Stark now knew how effective they were; Stark would dive down with some equipment and retrieve the ship when this was all over.

Stark needed a drink after all of this. Pouring himself a seventeen year old Laphroaig, he let his mind wander to thoughts of what Pepper would be up to right now. He'd call her and explain this whole thing when it was over. For now, he would just wait until Fett returned. Because Tony Stark knew Fett would return, and he'd be mad.

 **6**

"Who the fuck are you?"

Boba Fett stepped into Stark's now living room, helmet still on despite the fact that it no longer served much of a functional purpose.

"Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries. Look, you wrecked my house, I might have misplaced your ship, call it even?"

Fett threw his survival knife right at Stark's heart; it would have killed him except for the fact that Tony Stark was transforming again.

As Fett's knife clanked against Iron Man's armor and fell down, Iron Man started to fly straight up through his ceiling and on to the roof. Launching his grapple hook around Iron Man's left leg, Fett started to climb up the thin cable while trying to avoid being thrown off. Iron Man spun him around in circles, but Fett managed to stay on until his helmet was knocked off and he was thrown across Stark's ceiling.

"You know, kind of disappointed. I assumed you'd have some kind of alien face when you said you weren't from this galaxy."

Boba Fett's murderous stare would have pierced into the soul of most men. Dusting himself off from the plaster of the new hole in Stark mansion, he stood up as Iron Man and Fett began to circle each other like predator and prey.

The repulsor beam Iron Man fired overwhelmed Fett's own DUR-24 wrist laser, prompting Fett to roll out of the way in order to avoid critical injury. Still crouched down, Fett activated his flame projector. Iron Man had to fly backwards to avoid being burnt alive.

"Look buddy, we can keep fighting if you want or I can give you a treasure map to find your little ship."

"I am not your buddy, Tony Stark. Tell me where my ship is now and perhaps I will not sell the existence of this resource rich planet to the Emp…."

Iron Man bull rushed Boba Fett in the middle of his sentence, sending the man hurtling down the hole in the ceiling they had created during the fight. Fett landed on the floor with more than his pride damaged; Iron Man had knocked his rifle off his back and now pointed it straight at Fett's chest while they stood by the broken window of the mansion.

"Here's how this is going to work," Iron Man said as he began to transform into Tony Stark. "I'm going to get you a ship back. Then you're going to take off and never come back. J.A.R.V.I.S. is going to cut the fuel tank if you try anything. Got it?"

Seething with rage, Fett saw no other choice as he gritted his teeth and agreed to Stark's terms. Stark lead him to a basement that clearly doubled as a lab while barking orders to what must have been some kind of technological monstrosity – this J.A.R.V.I.S. machine.

"Activate the hydraulic pumps, J.A.R.V.I.S." Stark never turned away from Fett while issuing orders. "Your ship is underwater right now, but we're digging it out now and we'll have it back to you almost good as new. Just like my house."

Fett tried to keep a straight face, but he had no idea if Slave I would function having been fully submerged in an ocean. It had dealt with rain before, but who knew what chemicals were in Earth's water.

Tony Stark had no intention of giving this man his ship back. Like most of his plans, he was making this up as he went along. As long as he had a Fett's own gun trained on him, he thought he could control the situation. Besides, maybe he could still get Fett to turn the ship on. Then J.A.R.V.I.S. could potentially hack into the system.

"Sir, we have recovered the ship. Opening basement access doors now," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported.

"Lead the way," Stark said as he pointed for Fett to take the lead while he followed with the gun trained on Fett's back.

As the flooded chamber emptied out for them to access Slave I, they entered a sparse room with a huge landing dock in the middle of it. The dock was surrounded by water and the only furniture in the semi-circular room was a chair for someone to sit in while the operated a control panel that seemed to be able to manipulate the door and water level in the room.

Boba Fett could not conceal his emotions when he saw what had been done to his beautiful baby. He could immediately tell that water damage had incapacitated at least one off the F-31 ion engines. Who knew how many of the four power generators were still operational?

"There has been significant damage to my ship, Stark. It will not fly in this condition."

Fett turned around to face the man who dared point his own gun at him, but Tony Stark had dropped it now. Once again, he was transforming into Iron Man.

 **7**

"New plan, Fett. You're going to help me fix this ship and then, after I study it and determine what kind of threat you pose to my planet, I might let you go."

Boba Fett should have expected this kind of trickery and sabotage from another human. It did not matter what planet a human came from – they were all cunning bastards when the situation called for it. Facing Iron Man, he launched himself backwards as he launched a projectile from his spike boots, causing an explosion that forced Iron Man to roll to his side. Enough was enough, Fett though to himself – it was time to show this Earthling why he was the best bounty hunter in the universe. He launched himself forward now – straight at Iron Man.

Was there any piece of clothing this guy owned that didn't function as a weapon? Iron Man was caught off guard by Fett's shoes, and really didn't know what to expect when the man launched himself right at his body. Did Boba Fett have a death wish? Iron Man prepared to launch a repulsor beam right square at Fett's chest, but the suddenness of the attack had made Iron Man hesitate just enough so that Fett was able to activate a sonic detonator he kept in one of his pouches. It issued an electro magnetic pulse that shut down J.A.R.V.I.S. and blinded Iron Man temporarily. The good thing about sonic detonators, Fett thought, was that they had no effect on him now since his helmet had already been deactivated.

This guy was good, Iron Man thought to himself. He couldn't get J.A.R.V.I.S. back online – that EMP must have been really powerful. Fett had already started to lay into him with blows to his face and chest, fighting like a boxer would. After throwing a few blind punches and falling prey to a kick that knocked him on his side, Iron Man realized he'd have to get out of his suit and started to transform once more.

Boba Fett was a quick learner. It served him well as a bounty hunter, and now he saw how to permanently gain the advantage in this fight that had gone on for too long. As Iron Man began to transform, Fett drove an anti-security blade from his shin guard into the side of Stark's chest. The blow prompted a gasp from his opponent, but more importantly it stopped his transformation for a minute. The blade caused the transformation sequence to malfunction, allowing Fett to rip Iron Man's head off.

"You have caused far too much damage, Stark. I do not enjoy causing pain, but I will make an exception in your case."

Bleeding from his side and paralyzed in his suit sans helmet, Stark could only watch as Boba Fett swung his helmet into his face at full speed, breaking his nose. On the second swing, Fett connected with Stark's mouth, prompting him to spit out blood that stained Fett's green armor. The third swing made contact with the side of Stark's head, knocking him unconscious.

Boba Fett did not like causing pain. But he had enjoyed that. With no distractions, Fett began to work on his ship. The spare fuel canister Fett kept meant that he did not have to worry about that, but the hyperdrive was damaged and only one of the ion engines worked. Boba Fett would need to re-assess his priorities before leaving this planet. He activated his ship and took off to find a safe haven while he repaired his ship and figured out what was next. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it would involve Tony Stark.


End file.
